Their Weird Relationship
by Pen Sil
Summary: They were still a team after years together, but they had gotten closer. To one of them it was natural but to the other it was weird. When Lucy goes on a mission by herself, would have died if it wasn't for Natsu she's in for a weird surprise. Nothing new


**Their Weird Relationship**

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* * *

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She had been a fool to do this, she knew it. She shouldn't have left. But she couldn't just stand back and wait for help that might never come. She had lost her keys, dropped them at some point (Aquarius would kill her). And yet when she knew she should cower and admit defeat, maybe plead for mercy it never became more than a thought in her head.

It wasn't an option. Not when she was who she was. Lucy Heartfilia might have done so, but Lucy of Fairy Tail would never do such a thing. Not in a million years. And so she sent her future murderer a hateful look, waiting for that final blow that would shatter her completely.

And she saw it coming, the black magic. And all she could do was stand and wait for it, for she couldn't even move.

An angry roar erupted from somewhere, she heard steps and saw fire block the black magic's path. There was an explosion and she was thrown off her shaky feet. Pain erupted through her body as she landed in the dirt.

He turned on her then, didn't even care about the main target. "Are you a complete idio-" his angry eyes widened at the sight of her and he was by her side in a second. Gently helping her into a sitting position, with hands she had expected to burn her skin, but did not. "How could you be so foolish, Lucy?" he whispered.

"I could have dealt with him," she mumbled, looking aside. "Had I not lost –"

"These?" he handed her her keys. "Loki is furiously worried and Aquarius is ready to kill you."

She bit her lower lip, trying not to laugh as it would hurt her as much as anything else. "Thank you, Natsu."

"No problem," he said, grinning his characteristic grin. "Can you sit by yourself?"

She opened her mouth to answer but before she could there was a light beside her and she felt cold hands push Natsu's warm ones away. Smiling at the female spirit beside her she nodded. Aries had taken on the same habit as Loki; popping out of thin air whenever her master needed her help.

Rising the dragon slayer sent her one last look. "You really do look pathetic."

She mock glared at him, but she could see the worry through his teasings. She had never been this hurt before. Not even when they had been fighting Oracion Seis. Her body was numb with pain and she had to rest her head in the crook of Aries' neck. "Don't worry, Lucy," Aries muttered. "He won't lose this fight."

"I know," Lucy answered. "I could have taken him out too. I'm sorry, I lost your keys, Aries."

"It's okay."

And that was the last thing she remembered before she could no longer stay awake.

* * *

She was warm. And because she was warm she wasn't as pained as she should have been. But it also dulled her senses and it took a great deal of time before she realized that she was on a train. Slowly she became aware of a strong arm around her and that she was resting against a familiar chest, her cheek lying against a familiar muffler. She remember one time when she had stolen it from him, he had been so angry.

Slowly opening her eyes they met with the white colour of the item she had been thinking about. For a moment she wondered how he was taking the train ride, but then she felt a steady hand move over her hair in something that seemed quite un-Natsu like, even though he _had_ matured over the last couple of years. It was also a very unusual gesture, coming from him, even though they _were _quite close.

"You're never going on a mission without me again," he mumbled, probably thinking that she was still sleeping.

Still, as much as she enjoyed their closeness, the warmth he emitted and the hand gliding over her hair she could not let that slip. Anger boiled in her stomach, he would not compromise her freedom! "What?" she whispered, her dry throat leaving no louder sound escape her mouth.

He startled for a moment, but then seemed to ease back into the seat. "You're awake? How are you feeling?"Swallowing her anger for the moment she answered as well as she could. "I – I," she cleared her throat. "The pain has dulled."

"Wendy said that if I kept you warm the pain wouldn't be so bad."

She felt a smile tugging at her lips. "Did she give you something against the motion sickness as well?"

"Yeah," he said, sounding a bit excited in spite of her situation. "It's awesome."

They both fell silent for a moment, his hand hadn't stilled; it was still moving over her hair. It was slowly pulling her back into a slumbering state, a state where she could ignore the pains. But apparently he had decided to answer her small exclaim. "I mean it," he mumbled, after a small while, his hand stopping.

Immediately she felt more awake. "Mean what?" Her voice was going back to normal.

"What I said just after you had woken up," he told her, his hand starting to move again. "About not letting you go on a mission without me again."

She tried to not get worked up over it, she really tried. And she knew that he didn't mean it in a negative way. He just wanted to protect her, to make sure she wouldn't get this hurt again…

Pushing against his chest she felt his arm fall away from her and she forced herself to ignore the pains in her body as she met his eyes with what she hoped was a steady expression. "Natsu," she sighed. "You can't just decide that. I'm not –" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. "You don't have the right to control my life."

He watched her for a moment, with a very uncharacteristic expression on his face. "No one has that right," he said, he knew all too well how her father had treated her. "But we're partners aren't we?"

She looked away, for a moment, ashamed that she had doubted him. "I needed my rent," she muttered. "And _someone_ was busy."

"Couldn't you have asked someone else to go with you?" he asked in a concerned tone. "You've done requests with Cana and Juvia before, even Levy."

"When they asked me," she huffed, looking back at him. "You would have been disappointed if I had asked someone else than my partner."

A smile broke out on his lips. "Thanks, Luce," he told her before pulling her back into that unnatural warmth that she had woken up to. Snuggling a bit closer she closed her eyes, deciding that he was probably right; they really shouldn't be fighting.

* * *

She was moving in and out of slumber. The room was too bright which meant that it was morning, but she was usually woken by Natsu, so why wasn't he here yet? Slowly fighting her way to consciousness she opened her eyes and realized where she was. The infirmary.

At first she couldn't figure out why she there, she felt fine and she couldn't remember –

_Oh…_

Trying to move a bit, maybe sit up, she twisted and turned. Something pink caught her eye. Turning her head fully to the side she realized that Natsu was sleeping by the side of her bed.

"You're awake," a female voice said. Looking up she saw a smiling Lisanna walking up to her. "How are you feeling?"

Returning the smile she considered it. "I'm a bit thirsty, but I'm feeling okay," she admitted.

"Natsu called before you guys took the train," she said handing Lucy a glass of water, "so Wendy was ready when you guys arrived and was working on you from the second Natsu barged into the guild."

Not hiding her grin she remembered their many homecomings. He always had been violent in his way of saying "_tadaima_". "Lisanna would you please help me to sit up?"

The young Take Over mage nodded, and grabbed some pillows from the nearby bed and placed them behind Lucy's head before helping her to sit up. The dragon slayer snorted in his sleep but made no other indication that anything beside him had moved.

"It feels a bit like this is all my fault," Lisanna muttered.

Lucy's eyes widened and her facial expression clearly showed that she did not understand that. "What are you talking about Lisanna? I was the one who dropped the keys, it's my fault."

Her friend snorted. "But I was the one who insisted on going fishing for the whole day," she said. "If Natsu had been at the guild you never would have gotten hurt."

Lucy sighed. "Lisanna," she said, scratching the back of her head and wincing at how greasy her hair felt. How long had she been asleep? "I have no right to monopolise Natsu. He has his own life, and he has a right to spend time with other people than me. Besides," she smiled, "it was just bad luck that I lost my keys and I first noticed when I had confronted the sorcerer."

"But –"

Impatience flooded her system for a moment. "What happens happens, we just have to learn from the consequences," she said. "And I might be a bit hurt, but I'm alive and I'll be fine as soon as I'm healed."

"I'm worried about you, Lucy," Lisanna said. Lucy gaped, it wasn't like she was going to do something like that again! "We all are…." She hesitated. "Natsu especially. You've been sleeping for two days and he hasn't left your side. Not even when master threw him out – he just crawled in through the window."

The two giggled at the silliness of their mutual friend, and for a moment everything was great.

But then the conversation took a turn that Lucy didn't like. "When Mira-nee told us that you had dropped your keys in the guild and gone on a mission without noticing he just grabbed the keys and went after you," Lisanna told her. "Had it not been for his nose he would have never found you."

An alarm sounded off at the back of her mind, but she could not think of a way to change the subject.

For a moment Lisanna stayed silent, she was just smiling fondly down at her childhood friend. Then she sighed and rested her chin in her hands. "He really _does_ love you."

"Huh?" Having expected to hear it was a completely different thing than actually _hearing_ it. "Natsu? You must mean as friends, partners, _nakama._"

Lisanna just smiled before shaking Natsu awake, almost pushing him off his chair. "Oi! Gray –" he stopped and blinked groggily. "Oh… it's just you, Lisanna. How is Lu –" A grin broke out on his face. "You're awake! Awesome. How are you feeling?"

Saying this he grabbed one of her hands and studied the wounds. Or rather…. The unexciting wounds. "As expected of Wendy," he grinned. "Though that broken arm of yours will probably take a few days to heal."

Wendy had specified her magic so that she only sped up the process that came with healing bones, she had a habit of ranting when people asked her to speed up the process too much.

Natsu turned back to Lisanna. "So why did you wake me up?" he asked and strangled a yawn. "I'm still tired."

"Well," she laughed. "You did stay up all night. Anyways," she said, a serious expression gracing her features as Natsu leaned against Lucy's mattress once again. "You love Lucy, don't you?"

There was a snort-like sound from the dragon slayer. "Wasn't that obvious?"

Lucy's mouth fell open. "You-you must mean, as friends, partners," she exclaimed.

She got a good look for that one. "Lucy is Lucy."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Her friend sighed in frustration and sat back up. "You can be really stupid some times, Luce," he declared. A sly expression crossed his face. "Or are you just in denial?"

"Heh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"What does it sound like?"

And with that he laid back down and went back to sleep.

Staring down at her partner for a moment, she wondered if he even expected a reply. "I can't believe him."

The only reply she got from Lisanna was a small giggle. "Just be happy that Mira-nee wasn't here."

"Good point."

* * *

"Gah! Lucy, what is wrong with that dog of yours?" Cana exclaimed.

Natsu was laughing at his childhood friend's exclamation. "I didn't know that that dog of yours was such a great drinker, Luce."

Trying to hide her grin, she forced herself to be annoyed. "Neither did I. But I don't like it! Stop that!" she added as Cana filled another bucket with sake, for Plue to enjoy.

Her old S-class exam partner scowled in her direction. "You shouldn't have bought him, then," she declared and emptied her own bowl. "But it pisses me off that he drinks so fast."

Laughing Lucy declared that it was about time they headed home. "I'm sorry, Cana," she said. "Next time, okay?"

The Card Mage glared but nodded. "You better bring him back tomorrow, though," she said, and turned back to her bottle.

Letting Plue cross over, Lucy grabbed her jacket and headed out into the winter. It was already dark outside and the lamps had been lit. Snow was falling lightly from the sky and it seemed much colder than when she had left her small apartment for the guild in the morning. Her body was still a bit weak from the many days in bed and it was hurting the more she was out in the cold.

Rubbing her hands she hurried her pace. Maybe she should have invited Natsu to come along. With his warmth she wouldn't be freezing and he had been her heater for the last couple of winters.

_Natsu…_

Nothing seemed to have changed, at least from his side. But she was not surprised; the way he had expressed his view of her had been in a way that told her exactly how he was in that direction. Natsu wasn't awkward or sweet, nor was he cheesy. He was direct and blunt and he had decided long ago that what he felt was nothing out of the norm. And that was so true to his character that the thought almost made her laugh.

But… stopping to look up at the sky, it also warmed her insides. Natsu was Natsu, and he was loyal like hell.

"Oi, Luce!" Jumping in surprise she turned back to see her friend running up to her. "Why aren't you home yet? You left the guild ten minutes ago."

Narrowing her eyes in his direction she told him "I was enjoying the weather." He had become way too protective of her since then. Had the sight of her hurt in that way scared him that much?

He studied her for a moment and then pulled off his scarf. His _scarf._ "You're still not completely back to your old self and you must be freezing."

It was warm. "You've been spending too much time with Wendy," she declared.

"It's good knowledge to have," he shrugged.

"True," she said. "But since you started using that knowledge you've become somewhat… somewhat… overprotective."

"Only because you're –"

Her head whipped up and she sent him a hurt glare. How dared he? "I'm not hurt anymore, Natsu! This is –" she turned her back to him. "This is exactly how it was before I became a part of Fairy Tail." She couldn't help but hug herself. She didn't want Natsu to – "I don't want to be treated like glass!"

Warm arms encased her and she bit her tongue to force the tears back. "I'm not some fragile doll."

"You can be such a freak at times," he muttered into her hair. "Lucy, you know that's not how I see you. Stubborn to the end, fierce, and a little too protective of your apartment. Sometimes a bit stupid, a complete nerd when it comes to books and weird. But you're also loyal, strong, independent and kind hearted. You have proven more than once to what lengths you're ready to go for Fairy Tail, for me as well. You're not fragile." He snorted. "And I hate it when you cry, so stop it!"

He was still holding her. It was warm… as it always was with Natsu. "I'm a freak, huh?" she muttered, her head hanging. She didn't even try to fight her tears. His arms loosened a bit, this was obviously not what he had expected. "Then what are you, Natsu?" Moving out of his embrace she faced him. "You're a fire breathing idiot. You always rush into a fight without using your head. You can't stand transportation without help from Wendy and you keep destroying things." Her tears had dried and she smiled at him. Even though he was gaping at her. "But… you never give up. You're fiercely loyal and you would never leave a friend in need. You're always happy and I can always depend on you. You're my best friend, my partner and I can trust you with anything." On a second thought she added "Why did I even tell you that?"

He was grinning. "Does it matter?"

She considered him for a moment, then she grinned herself. "I guess it doesn't."

"Good." He grabbed her hand and started walking in the direction of her apartment. "Let's get out of this cold."

"Good idea," she said, noting how warm his hand was. "My face is cold."

"That's why I told you not to cry, idiot." He was laughing.

"That was obviously not why you told me not to cry," she declared.

And suddenly he was embarrassed, looking away. "How would you know?"

Leaning up she kissed his cheek and skipped ahead, after a few steps she turned. He was rubbing his cheek, and now for a whole other reason than why he usually did when she was involved. "Because I know you," she told him with a smile.

He was smiling too. "You sure do."

_Their relationship was weird. But it worked so well._

* * *

I have no idea what to write here…

Uh… the small scene with Plue and Cana was inspired from episode 3 of Rave Master where Plue is drinking with Musica the Blacksmith.

I was inspired to the first part of this story when I re-re-re-watched Natsu's fight with Gajeel. The rest just came as I worked…

Oh and… I always thought that Natsu wouldn't be as dense as everyone gives him credit for. He would just think nothing of it and go along for the ride, as he always does. I discussed it with my friend and we agreed on the little scene with Lisanna (she can be awesome when she's doing a bit wink-wink nudge-nudge of her own).

A review or two would be nice

Wauv! I _did_ know what to write *grin*

- Pen


End file.
